MANILA, Philippines — The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) opposed proposals to again postpone the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, which is scheduled for Nov. 2, purportedly to realign funds toward addressing the ongoing fuel crisis.
Namfrel said in a statement on Friday that proposals to defer the barangay and SK polls “represent a grave threat to the foundations of Philippine democracy and must be rejected outright.”
“Elections are not discretionary events to be deferred at the convenience of those in power. They are constitutional obligations and democratic rights that belong to the Filipino people,” the group said.
The barangay polls were first postponed from Dec. 1, 2025, to Nov. 2 under the Republic Act No. 12232 to focus on the parliamentary elections of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
READ: Comelec says BSKE preps not wasted if polls are postponed
In a briefing last week, Malacañang said President Marcos is open to again postponing the November elections, thereby extending again the terms of barangay officials across the country, but Namfrel said diverting the electoral preparation funds of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to other government services is a “deliberate act of institutional sabotage.”
It said that stripping the Comelec of its resources for the purpose of preventing an election from proceeding is a “clear violation of the prohibition of transfer of budgetary funds under Article VI, Section 25 (5) of the Constitution.”
The move also sets a “dangerous precedent for executive overreach into the independence of our electoral body,” added Namfrel.
“While we acknowledge that these pressures place genuine burdens on our nation, they do not constitute the kind of extraordinary circumstance that can legally or morally override the people’s right to choose their barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) leaders,” said Namfrel.
“The Philippines has held elections through far graver national crises. Economic hardship is not a democratic emergency. It is, if anything, all the more reason to ensure that communities have accountable, properly elected leadership at the most local level,” it added.
Namfrel stressed that each voter should be given the right to choose their barangay and SK officials “regularly and without interruption.” Extending the term of barangay and SK officials is “an affront to the constituents those officials are meant to serve,” the group said. /cb
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